The Scorchers bounced back from consecutive defeats to the Stars with a resounding victory against the Thunder. Hurricanes fans are still hopeful that their team can sneak into the finals after seeing their team hold off the Renegades in Melbourne. The most impressive win came from Adelaide Strikers as they achieved a win against Melbourne Stars. It could be a psychological blow if these two meets again in the finals.

Perth Scorchers beat Sydney Thunder by 8 wickets

Josh Inglis and Liam Livingstone notched their third century partnership of BBL09 as the Scorchers comfortably beat the Thunder at Optus Stadium. It was an impressive win as the home team restricted the Thunder to 5/153 before easily reaching the target with 27 balls remaining.

Sydney batters found it tough going; Alex Hales was the only batter to succeed with an excellent 85. The opener took 59 balls for his total and only fell in the final over of the innings. Usman Khawaja and Callum Ferguson fell cheaply as the Thunder struggled to assert themselves. Arjun Nair and Daniel Sams fell close together, to fall to 4/82 before Hales found company in Alex Ross. The pair added 64 before Hales fell, but the total was always going to be below par. Scoring 5/135, it was going to take a strong bowling performance.

Any thoughts of that dissipated with Inglis and Livingstone scoring with relative impunity. They took 75 from the powerplay as the Thunder bowlers could not get a breakthrough. Daniel Sams, the competition's leading wicket-taker, looked powerless to stop the Scorchers from winning easily.

By the time the Scorchers did lose a wicket, Inglis out for 58 from 41 balls, the score was 136. It was the best highest partnership of BBL09 for the openers, and they had put their team within touching distance of the win. Livingstone perished trying to win the match with a six, but the game was over two balls later. Livingstone's 78 from 49 balls, with four sixes and six fours, secured him the player of the match award. For the Scorchers, it moved them past the Thunder into fourth place. The two teams meet again on Sunday and could well be a pivotal game to define how the finals are going to look.

Hobart Hurricanes beat Melbourne Renegades by 4 runs

The Hurricanes just about kept their finals hopes alive while ending the BBL08 champions' hopes at Marvel Stadium. Despite conceding 190 and losing Sam Webster to concussion, the Renegades came close to winning their third match in succession before falling four runs short.

Batting first, Hobart was treated to some Matthew Wade hitting as the opener scored 66 of the first 84 runs. Taking 29 balls, Wade struck three sixes and seven fours to give the men in purple a flying start. Cameron Boyce was the man to get the breakthrough as his wicket-taking form continued.

Young Macalister Wright, on the eve of his 22nd birthday, played an exceptional anchor role as the Hurricanes built a good total. Ben McDermott added 38 from 19 balls to Wright's 70 from 50, to push the total to 3/190. Boyce finished with 2-27, adding David Miller to his impressive list of victims in BBL09, while the other Renegades bowlers were less effective.

The run chase for the Renegades started badly when Marcus Harris consumed eight balls for two runs. Things got much worse when Sam Harper, who has been in fine form as late, was forced out of the match with a concussion. In a collision with the Hurricanes bowler Nathan Ellis, Harper landed on his head and was forced to leave the game.

Shaun Marsh and Beau Webster led the recovery with 69 runs before Marsh fell for 56. A subsequent scan has highlighted a hamstring tear which will bring Marsh's first season in Melbourne to an end.

With the required run rate going up, it was left to Mohammed Nabi to play a destructive innings. The Afghan international dragged his team back into the game with four sixes and four fours before perishing at deep midwicket when Wright took a good low catch. Needing 11 off the last over, Webster couldn't find the boundary with the second ball and picked out the fielder. It was a crucial wicket as Ellis closed out the game for his team.

The equation is easy for the Hurricanes; keep winning and hope other results go their way. For the Renegades, they can look back at their campaign and start to unpick what went so badly wrong.

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